Deck:Anti-Royal Hogs
Strategy *Placing your Mega Minion or Valkyrie in the back is what your move should be if you want to wait for your opponent to make a move. *If the Hogs are split on the bridge, try placing a Furnace in the middle of your side, and then either the Mega Minion, Executioner, or Baby Dragon to take then out. *Battle Ram is your win con, and Poison can support it. A Battle Ram + Poison combo is good if the opponent placed a high elixir card in the back. They are also other combos, such as Furnace + Battle Ram. *To counter a Giant deck, place a 4x3 Furnace to distract the Giant, and Executioner, Valkyrie, Mega Minion, or the Baby Dragon to take out the support, the Giant, and then counter push. *A really popular combo is Royal Hogs 3 Musketeers. The Poison, Valkyrie, or Executioner can take out the Three Musketeers, while the Furnace can take out the Royal Hogs. Normally, the Musketeers are first split in the back and once they get close enough to the bridge, Royal Hogs are split. If you don't have Poison in cycle make sure to place your Furnace as far back as possible so the Musketeers can't snipe it but it still pulls the Royal Hogs. **Afterwards, use the Valkyrie on the side with two Musketeers and a Mega Minion on the single Musketeer. If the opponent places a Battle Ram on that side, make sure that your Furnace still has a bit of health left so it connects, leaving you with only the Barbarians to deal with. Substitution Zap: If you see less Inferno Tower, Inferno Dragon and Sparky, you can substitute Zap with Arrows or Giant Snowball. Mega Minion: Any damage dealer that's good against air. Flying units are too necessary in every deck! Valkyrie: You can substitute the Valkyrie with Dark Prince or Bowler if the Meta heavily changes or if Supercell released a balance change involving the three. Battle Ram: You can substitute the Battle Ram with Hog Rider if you want less defence, but slightly more synergy and offence. Furnace: They are no substitutions. Baby Dragon: They are no substitutions. Poison: You can substitute the Poison with Fireball if the meta changes. Executioner: If you really dislike the Executioner, you can sub him with the Wizard or any other air splasher. Deck archetype matchups If any of these deck involve Royal Hogs, you don't really need to worry, as saving your Royal Hogs counter and placing it once the opponent sends them can start a counter push. The decks that will mostly involve the Royal Hogs are Three Musketeers, Zap Bait, Hog Cycle, and Bridge Spam. Here is the currrent Meta: Royal Hogs 10/10 Hog Cycle: Furnace, Mega Minion, and Valkyrie are your cards to take out the Hog, and the latter can take out the support cards. You want to build a big push against a Hog Cycle deck, but be aware of the opponent pressuring you. 6/10 Golem: The Furnace can distract the Golem, which is what you want to rely on. If the opponent places a Golem is placed in the back, send a Battle Ram with Valkyrie, Zap, or Poison immediately at the bridge. Just like LavaLoon, this will force the opponent to spend elixir, making the Golem push easier to deal with. Place a 4x3 Furnace to distract, and the Valkyrie or Baby Dragon with Zap to take out the support troops. You want to save your Mega Minion to take out the Golem. 4-7/10 Giant: The weaker, but cheaper Golem. The Opponent can support the Giant with more troops so be sure to use Valkyrie with the other cards to wipe them out, and the Furnace or Mega Minion to take out the Giant. 7/10 Three Musketeers: (You wreck them) Like I mentioned in the strategy template, the Three Musketeers can get taken out by the Valkyrie, Executioner, and Poison. If the opponent splits them into the back, the Baby Dragon/Valkyrie should be saved for the two Musketeers, and the Executioner, Mega Minion, and/or Furnace can be used to handle most pushes the opponent decides to create. 9-10/10 LavaLoon: This deck does an okay job against LavaLoon since the Battle Ram with or without spell support can pressure LavaLoon users, making their push more manageable. The Furnace can distract the Lava Hound and the Balloon, the Mega Minion can be send to target the Balloon rather then the Lava Hound, while the Baby Dragon and Executioner can chip both if used right. 8/10 P.E.K.K.A: The Pekka can easily eliminate the Battle Ram, and then cause a problem when it starts heading towards your tower. Mega Minion is your best bet for damaging/defeating the Pekka, while the Furnace/Executioner can distract the Pekka. If they send support behind, the Valkyrie or even the Executioner can take them out. This deck might struggle against a Pekka deck. 5/10 Miner Poison: This deck is good against Miner Poison since the cards can take out the Miner Poison combo for a Positive Elixir Trade and you won't have too much trouble against the Inferno Tower or the Inferno Dragon because of your Zap. Log Bait: The Goblin Barrel, Dart Goblin, or Princess may damage your tower, but the four said cards in the Zap Bait section can handle those three overall. However, I won't be shy at all to say that this deck is mediocre against Log Bait. 4/10 Mortar: Executioner can chip the Mortar at range as well as distract it. He can also penetrate through an Ice Golem or anything to defend the Mortar. You mainly want to use him to take out the Mortar, since once the Valkyrie/Battle Ram is in range, the Mortar will no longer target her/him and will start attacking it's next unit which could be your tower. The Mega Minion also flies so the Mortar won't target it and the Baby Dragon doesn't do enough damage. This deck does a great job against a Mortar deck. 7/10 Graveyard Poison: This deck is good against Graveyard Poison since your own Poison, Valkyrie, Executioner, and/or Baby Dragon can prevent most damage against the opponents Graveyard... I'm a Graveyard Poison user myself and I'm admitting this. 7/10 X-Bow: Similar to the Mortar, the Executioner can penetrate through the X-Bow's defense, but this time, the Valkyrie, the Battle Ram, and the Mega Minion are usable. Use the same strategy you did with the Mortar but keep in mind that the X-Bow is more expensive. 8/10 Mega Knight: Valkyrie or Mega Knight for the Mega Knight, and the Executioner/Furnace to clean up! The Baby Dragon is an all-rounder. They are more tactics to defeat the Mega Knight. 7/10 Bridge Spam: Be on the defensive side, then wait for the perfect moment for your own Battle Ram to strike. 7/10 Alternate Cards: The Three Wizards The Three Wizards are pretty good, but they all can be countered by splash or high damage. Here is a minor description about them. *The Wizard is a medium-ranged troop with both moderate hitpoints and moderate area-damage output. A Wizard card costs 5 Elixir to deploy. *The Ice Wizard is a medium-ranged troop with moderate hitpoints and low area damage. An Ice Wizard card costs 3 Elixir to deploy. The Ice Wizard's attacks will slow his targets' movement and attack speed by 35%. *The Electro Wizard is a double-target, ranged troop with moderate hitpoints and damage. His attacks briefly stun his targets for 0.5 seconds. His minor area damage upon deployment also stuns and deletes swarms. Wizard lacks HP, Ice Wizard's damage is literally depressing, and the Electro Wizard is pretty vunerable. All three of them can be countered by most cards in their face. When they're behind a tank, the Dark Prince and Executioner can handle that! ---- These decks with Royal Ghost: The Royal Ghost may be tough to counter as he is invisible but using techniques and units such as the Prince, Dark Prince, or even the Executioner can put a halt to this spooky legendary. Using the Mega Minion/Executioner once he's distracted can overkill him, and start a counter push. This gives the Hog Rider more value. ---- These decks with Lumberjack: The most menacing effect of Lumberjack is the rage spell once it's killed. To counter: *1. Put a unit at the center when you are defending and it will be lured easily, forcing it to leave the rage spell on the "not so ideal spot". *2. Aside from being a single-target unit, Lumberjack also doesn't attack aerial units. Making it an easy target for the Mega Minion. *3. The Lumberjack has pretty decent hit points. However, it's not that great, making it pretty vulnerable to a high damage unit like your Prince. Just keep it mind that it will leave a rage spell once killed. This means there are usually support troops at his back. Dead Decks, but I will still list them Zap Bait: This deck does fine against Zap Bait as the Zap, Valkyrie, Baby Dragon, and Executioner can take out the Goblin Gang, Skeleton Army, Princess, etc. But against Inferno Tower/Dragon, you want to bait it out with a Valkyrie + Baby Dragon push or any other push that might make the opponent place his Inferno Tower/Dragon. That way, your Battle Ram will prioritize the opponent's tower. 7/10 Bridge Spam: Once again, the Furnace, Mega Minion, and Valkyrie can take out the Battle Ram/Bandit and it's support troops. Try to defend the opponent's pushes then go for the counter push. 6/10 Miner Cycle: This deck is weak against Miner Cycle since Valkyrie is a negative elixir trade and you usually want to save your Mega Minion. Also the opponent can cycle his miner faster than you can cycle your counters, and can bait your cards efficiently. 3/10 Rocket Cycle: Executioner is the only Rocket vulnerable troop in the deck, and the Battle Ram is the only card that can punish the opponent after sending a Rocket. In Double Elixir, don't clump all your troops together. 5/10 Royal Giant Furnace: This deck does ok against Royal Giant Furnace since you can use your own Furnace with the Mega Minion/Valkyrie to counter the Royal Giant, and Poison or even a push can counter the Furnace. Always save your Furnace for the Royal Giant, and place it so the Fire Spirits go for the Royal Giant and your tower is attacking the Royal Giant. 7/10 Splashyard: This deck is sturdy against Splashyard since Battle Ram is the only splash vulnerable troop. Take on a Splashyard deck as you would with a Graveyard Poison deck but don't clump up all your troops together especially in Double Elixir because of Splashyard's high amount of splash. 7/10 '''' Overall "If you hate Royal Hogs, you'll love this deck!" By me, A Plasma Monkey Fan.